"I stopped drinking five years ago and once I sobered up I realized what really needed to change," McCann said in a media release. "Great Big Sea was the biggest party band out there, living the every-night-is-Friday-night routine, the same songs every night. If you’re an artist, that life can kill you. I loved the band but I knew I had to get out."

That decision, though, brought old demons out of the dark.

“I started to write songs to make sense of everything… and I felt very much alone,” McCann recalled about making his 2015 album ‘Help Your Self’.

“When I put the record out, the response was huge. Fans said, ‘I know that song. That song is my brother or that song is my mother – or that song is me,” said McCann. “That was a great leap forward for me, because I learned I wasn’t alone. We’re not alone.”

He has found himself using music as therapy, working with people who face physical, mental, and addiction challenges, and has become a sought after motivational speaker trying to help others to help themselves find light through the darkness.

McCann’s journey to find his own peace, love, and happiness continues through his new music and sharing that with others.

And now he’s out on the road again, touring intimate venues with multi-instrumentalist Chris Murphy.

"I really don’t have to be in front of 10,000 people again," he says. "I’ll play for 100 or 200 and I’m happier. I really connect with people in rural communities. Being a Newfoundlander, I love the water and I’m looking forward to coming back to Lake Huron."